0

Commerce Sciences, the Palo Alto-based e-commerce startup backed by $1.8 million in seed funding from Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Genesis Partners, and others, is rolling out a feature called one-click personalization which allows online retailers to customize the shopping experience to individual website visitors.

This addition is now a part of the startup’s shopping companion bar, called the Personal Bar, which first launched into public beta this July. At the time, we likened the product to a “Meebo Bar for E-Commerce,” since, like Meebo’s toolbar, Commerce Sciences’ bar also places various buttons and add-ons on a toolbar that appears at the bottom of a website’s pages. However, where Meebo focuses on social media and ad integrations, the Commerce Sciences bar puts retailer-specific functions like site search, chat and feedback, a checkout button, coupons and more, on its toolbar.

While previously, the bar itself could be customized to the retailer’s own preferences, today’s launch of one-click personalization allows the e-commerce site to actually customize the Personal Bar to each and every individual site visitor. That means, for example, a new visitor could be shown a different version of the toolbar than a repeat customer would see – and perhaps they could be shown an introductory offer for their first purchase with the business. A hesitating shopper may be offered an instant discount or free shipping in order to encourage them to purchase.

Commerce Sciences founder and CEO Aviv Revach says the personalization feature has been in the works for months now, and is made possible by the startup’s proprietary big-data technology which takes into account 40 different behavioral data points. “The Personal Bar identifies the Shopper DNA anonymously,” he explains, “by analyzing where the shopper came from, products he likes, the type of shopper he is (deal-seeking shopper, loyal shopper, impatient shopper, etc.) and matches the right experience (coupon, personal message, chat support, etc.).”

To set up the Personal Bar on their own website, the retailer first customizes the bar using the online self-serve portal, then adds a line of JavaScript to their site. The bar is also supported on various e-commerce platforms, like Magento, osCommerce, Zen-cart, X-Cart, Demandware, and others.

To date, the company says it has analyzed over 22 million behavioral actions for over 8 million shoppers. In most retailers, over 12% of searches and checkouts were started via the bar, Revach tells us. Early studies also show a 24% increase in product searches and up to 3 times more Facebook Likes, he adds.

Since the bar’s debut this summer, over 70 customers, largely U.S.-based, have signed up, including Glassesmarket.com, theCHIVERY.com, weeDECOR, BuyEyeGlasses.com, Koffler Sales, and DUCKCO.